Food from Hadeem

The Restaurant Before the Restaurant

11 Minute read

24 Aug 2026

Jillian Dara

Journalist

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Chefs are using pop-ups and temporary residencies to test menus, find an audience, strengthen their teams, and shape permanent restaurants long before opening day.

The modern pop-up restaurant gained traction in major cities in the early 2000s, trading on impermanence, exclusivity, and the appeal of a one-and-done dining experience. But the model has evolved.

Today, chefs increasingly use pop-ups to attract diners, refine menus and operations, and test concepts before opening permanent restaurants. The format may still be temporary, but its purpose is long-term.

“I can’t imagine opening without having done so many [pop-ups],” says chef Spencer Horovitz, who plans to open Hadeem, his California-Jewish restaurant, in San Francisco next year. Horovitz has hosted Hadeem pop-ups throughout the Bay Area since 2023 while searching for a brick-and-mortar home.

He’s not the only one. Also in San Francisco, chef Maz Naba has spent more than a year introducing diners to his forthcoming Lebanese restaurant, Ilna, through a weekly residency at Buddy wine bar. In New York City, chef Chi Ian Chan ran Kine Musubi as a Sunday pop-up at Sushi Nonaka for 19 months before securing a permanent Upper West Side location. In Boston, London-based steakhouse Hawksmoor previewed its September opening with pop-ups at Eastern Standard and Mother’s East Tavern.

“They’ve helped us build a community of regulars, have real-time conversations about the restaurant we want to create, and give potential investors a tangible sense of how Hadeem will operate,” says Horovitz.

Yet it’s not only recurring pop-ups that provide value before a restaurant opens. Even one sneak peek or a handful of takeovers can contribute to a restaurant’s long-term success, benefiting customers and operators alike.

Finding an Audience

There’s only so much anticipation a restaurant can generate before diners taste its food and experience its atmosphere, especially when it is opening in a new part of town or comes from a lesser-known chef. Pop-ups can bridge that gap by introducing an existing restaurant’s regulars to an upcoming project or bringing a chef’s cooking directly to diners elsewhere. Brian Bornemann, chef-owner of Crudo e Nudo in Santa Monica, is using pop-ups ahead of the debut of his new handmade pasta and wine bar this fall.

To generate buzz and introduce his regulars to what he has planned, Bornemann held two pop-ups, one at Hotel El Roblar in Ojai and another at Betsy in Altadena. “In Los Angeles, folks aren't driving across town as much post-pandemic, so sometimes you have to bring the mountain to Mohammed,” says Bornemann.

Pop-ups can also help a restaurant reach a new demographic, as chef Lucas Chandler found during a trio of previews for Uchibā in Charlotte, North Carolina. One was held at Emmy Lou’s, a wine café, to attract younger, more relaxed diners. “The partnership introduced us to a drink and small-plate focused crowd that's the ideal audience for Uchibā,” says Chandler.

Expanding that reach creates excitement and name recognition, which is exactly what Harrison Porter, executive chef and co-owner of BearLeek in Denver, wanted from four pop-ups ahead of the restaurant’s opening. “We really felt momentum build,” he says. BearLeek now pays it forward by hosting emerging restaurant concepts for month-long Sunday residencies. “We wanted to give that same opportunity to chefs without brick-and-mortars,” says Porter.

Testing the Menu and the Mood

Pop-ups give chefs an opportunity to pressure-test ideas, practice executing at scale, and replace dishes that read well on paper but fail to resonate with diners. During the pop-ups for his handmade pasta and wine bar, Bornemann experimented with dishes including squid-ink linguine with ’nduja, yellow tomato, and venus clams, as well as saffron casarecce with fresh lamb ragù and marjoram. At BearLeek, Porter also sought feedback, hoping to “refine each dish as the pop ups progressed until opening.”

Even when they take place in established venues, pre-opening dinners can help operators define the identity and tone of their future restaurant. “These pop ups have been important for us in creating the vibe that we want to set when we open,” says Travis Robitaille, co-founder of mondo, a wine bar and restaurant coming to Boston’s South End. Robitaille says his team has been intentional in planning its half-dozen pop-ups, collaborating only with like-minded businesses such as Gray’s Hall, a natural wine bar with a seasonal menu in South Boston. “From the style of food and wine we're presenting to the decor and music, we are trying to set the feeling of what it will be like to experience mondo.”

Strengthening Teams and Networks

Launching a restaurant rarely goes exactly to schedule. When construction or permitting stalls progress, pop-ups can maintain team morale and help establish trust before welcoming the first guests. Permitting delays were exactly what prompted Robitaille to start a pop-up series. “We’re having fun during the not so fun part of it,” he says.

Pop-ups also allow everyone involved to learn and grow together. Porter and his crew cooked in four different kitchens across Denver before opening BearLeek. “It was good to gain experience and figure out what worked best for us as we headed into the debut of our first restaurant,” says Porter. Then there’s Horovitz, who spent three years hosting pop-ups in small spaces, large dining rooms, and businesses without full kitchens. Those varied settings helped define Hadeem’s operational non-negotiables. “Cooks see new systems, ingredients, and coaching styles; front-of-house teams may be introduced to a different approach to food, wine, or hospitality,” says Horovitz. “That flexibility has allowed us to say yes to opportunities we otherwise might have missed.”

Beyond exposure and education, pop-ups help chefs forge relationships across the industry. Porter values the conversations about sourcing that arose from cooking alongside other chefs, which expanded his network of purveyors. In Charlotte, Chandler sees collaboration as a way of “putting the city on the map as a destination for truly great food.”

Turning Guests Into Regulars

Whether newly opened or a neighborhood stalwart, a host restaurant can use pop-ups to reach people who might not otherwise walk through the door. Shared promotion gives it a chance to make a strong first impression and turn some of those newcomers into regulars. “The pop ups bring people who wouldn't otherwise have visited the bar, and they come back,” says Blake Walker, co-owner of Chin Up Bar in New York.

Such takeovers are a foundational part of the Lower East Side bar’s business plan. In August, Chin Up hosted a preview of Mili, the restaurant that chef Jorge Luis Pabon and Alexis Morgan White plan to open this fall just three blocks away. “It was a perfect opportunity to introduce themselves to the neighborhood and for Chin Up Bar to meet some of their audience,” says Walker. The bar has also welcomed Legion, a fine-dining restaurant from Truman Parsons and Emilio Cerra slated to debut in the West Village. For the takeover, Chin Up’s staff transformed the typically casual bar into a formal dining room for one night. “We got to see an alternate-reality version of Chin Up Bar with formal tableside service,” says Walker.

That alternate reality can also serve as a dress rehearsal. For chefs working toward a brick-and-mortar, the pop-up is no longer merely a fleeting event. It offers a chance to shape the restaurant before the doors even exist.